Los Angeles pays $38M to settle suit over power line deaths

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles will pay $38 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of two people who were electrocuted by a power line that fell into their backyard.

The Department of Water and Power's Board of Commissioners last month agreed to settle a suit over the January 2021 deaths of Ferdinand Tejada, 53, and his 20-year-old daughter, Janina Tejada. They died after coming into contact with a high-voltage electrical wire that fell into the backyard of their home in the Panorama City neighborhood.

The lawsuit by two family members said the city failed to properly maintain its power equipment.

Tejeda's wife, Julleth Tejada, said she witnessed the deaths of her husband and daughter. Estrelita Madrigal, Janina Tejada's grandmother, “heard the explosion, smelled the smoke and fire, heard the screams and the yelling, and was aware that her granddaughter was being electrocuted,” according to the lawsuit as cited by the Los Angeles Times.

In a statement Monday, the DWP said it failed to properly inspect and repair the equipment and has "fully overhauled" its procedures.

“The loss their loved ones have experienced is unfathomable,” the statement said. “While nothing we do can bring them back, serious failures contributed to this tragedy, and we have committed to reform and major improvement to LADWP’s pole inspection and maintenance program.”

The agency said it has repaired or replaced equipment on about half of some 1,600 power poles that are considered to pose a threat to public safety, and it expects to finish temporary or permanent repairs to the others within three weeks.

The DWP board will hear an update on the inspection and maintenance program on Tuesday.